iPhone 101: Getting more out of Apple's Stocks app on iOS

Apple's Stocks app on iOS isn't terribly exciting, but in typical Apple fashion, it does have a bit more functionality lurking beneath the surface.

Pictured below is what you typically see when you fire up the Stocks app.

The information is pretty basic. We see that Apple's current share price is US$456, and to the right of that in green, we see how much Apple's share price has gone up for the day, in this case $3.98.

If you tap the green rectangle, however, the display changes to reveal Apple's current market cap.

If you tap the green rectangle once more, the information changes yet again, this time displaying Apple's daily gain or loss as a percentage.

So with a few taps, one can quickly toggle through Apple's market cap and information as to how the stock is performing percentage-wise or terms of dollars and cents.

But wait, there's more!

If we take another look at the default Stocks view, you'll note that there are three circles at the bottom of the screen.

From here, one can simply swipe to the left (from anywhere on the bottom half of the screen) to reveal more information about the selected stock, in this case Apple.

On screen two, we're presented with a chart mapping Apple's stock performance over the last six months. One can also tap on the other durations to see Apple's stock performance over other periods of time.

What's more, if you rotate the phone into landscape mode, you'll not only be presented with a wider chart of a stock's performance, but you'll also be able to drag your finger across the chart and see at what price a stock closed on a particular day.

If we return the phone into portrait mode and swipe to the left one more time, we're now presented with Apple-related news stories.

What may not be so apparent, however, is that one can swipe upwards on the presented news stories to reveal even more Apple-related stories from around the web.

Lastly, if you want to add stocks to keep an eye on, simply tap the info button at the bottom-right corner of the screen.

You'll then be whisked away to the screen below where you can tap on the "+" sign and add whatever stocks you like.

So there you have it. Apple's Stocks app may be seldom used by those who don't follow the market, but it does house a tad more functionality than one might expect from an ostensibly boring and vanilla application.